quick(?) notes on the movies i've seen lately...

casino royale
wow... what a great action movie with a good story line... and daniel craig fucking rocks... he definitely made the bond a real person with depth, not just an icon filled with mannerism and clichés... and thought eva green was so beautiful and charismatic... and the action scenes were more believable than other bond movies i've seen... have to confess i never liked sean connery's bond since he plays it so light and cool... although i do know that's how he made bond into this cultural figure... but the ones he played bond, i really couldn't care if he made it alive at the end or get to the villain... because you knew automatically there's no way bond can be harmed... well, guess that was somewhat true for this new bond but still i found myself caring if he would get hurt or not... and it did show him with scratches and wounds and pain...
a couple of things i wasn't crazy for were the main theme song and the opening credit... even though those old ones were filled with sexual images of naked girls, but they were awesome... this one is rather cute... still i cannot wait to see the next bond movie with daniel craig...

borat: cultural leanings of america for make benefit glorious nation of kazakhstan
can i just tell you, that movie is amazing... there is a scene that i know it can never be topped ever... if you've seen it, you know which scene i'm talking about... sacha baron cohen is genius... he really pushes it all the way... think i might have to see it again since there are so many jokes and lines i might have missed... it's pretty amazing there are so many people who are offended by this movie... and people suing the production company for misleading them... it's so obvious those people cannot face the truth about themselves...

volver
since i love almadovar, i knew that i wouldn't be disappointed by this new movie of his... and it was pretty good... it wasn't talk to her but still had so much emotional depth and warmth in the movie which was enough to be touching... the movie was all about bond and love between women which we don't get to see too often... thought penelope cruz was astonishing... and the music by alberto iglesias was so beautiful... oh, the opening credit is amazing too...

crash
well, i have to say i had many problems with this movie... not a bad movie but not as deep as other people made it to be... winning oscar for the best picture...? give me a break... not that oscar is to be taken serious but still... it was very shallow, safe and pretentious... total hollywood approach, heavily depending on the stereotypes of racism other than digging deeper into it and try to examine the reason behind... borat did it 1000 times better at putting a mirror in front of people exposing the real faces... and please, if you are making a movie about a racism, at least cast real korean people for the korean roles... oh, the ending with soppy pop songs back to back... wow...

the rules of the game
it was one of those rare movies that i was laughing throughout then felt so sad as soon as the movie ended... couldn't believe it was made in 1939... no wonder it was banned/destoyed by french and the nazis... way too ahead of its time like so many masterpieces... it showed how all those people were so locked in their roles and rules without being able to find out what they really were and wanted... and that hunting scene was truly chilling to the bone... definitely need to see it again... absolutely a work of genius...

the strange love of martha ivers
kirk douglas's debut... what a strange yet great movie... it also showed people trapped in their roles/desire/past not knowing what they really wanted... barbara stanwyck is fabulous as hot and cold martha ivers... was interesting to see van heflin as a young man though... i think i'd only seen him in western movies as older man... quite good looking here... and lizabeth scott looking so much like lauren bacall...

there are a few more but think this is more than enough for now...